In its next meeting, the Commission for Exceptional Situations will consider lifting the ban on the export of wheat, said the head of the parliamentary commission on agriculture and food industry Vladimir Bolea. According to him, the state will help farmers by refunding the excise duty on diesel fuel for small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, the Association “Force of Farmers” demands that the Government should partially subsidize the purchase of fertilizers and should bring things on the oil products market in order, IPN reports.
The executive director of the Association “Force of Farmers” Alexandru Slusari said farmers’ demands remain the same: subsidies for diesel fuel and fertilizers and the possibility of exporting wheat. The famers’ decision to take agricultural vehicles to national roads is a method of protest, but the dissatisfaction is not politically motivated.
“The protest is strictly economic. The farmers got angry after their protest was described as political. The prices of resources have soared. The price of diesel fuel rose by 300%, while of fertilizers by 400%. Furthermore, there is a shortage of diesel fuel. Simultaneously, there is a blockage and we cannot export wheat. The farmers keep their supplies in storehouses and will be unable to store the wheat of the new harvest there. Among the most important demands are to refund the excise duty on the diesel fuel bought in 2022, to lift the wheat export ban, to bring things on the oil products market in order, to partially cover the price of fertilizers, in the amount of at least 30%. 70 million lei more is needed to solve the problem related to the excise duty on diesel fuel,” Alexandru Slusari stated in the program “Secrets of the Power” on JurnalTV channel.
For their part, representatives of the government assure that the ban on the export of wheat and flour will be lifted, while the excise duty on diesel fuel will be fully refunded to small and medium-sized producers.
“In the sitting of Parliament, the decision to extend the state of emergency will be adopted, while the CES in its next meeting will consider lifting the ban on the export of wheat. As to the refund of the excise duty on diesel fuel, the Government decided to allocate 150,000 lei to each farmer, which is the price of 41 tonnes of diesel fuel. No one considers the farmers opponents, enemies and political players. These people experience very big problems. We focused on small and medium-sized producers as these suffer because of the great monopolists that dictate the purchase prices,” stated PAS MP Vladimir Bolea.
Recently, the Government announced that the excise duties on diesel fuel used in 2022 by small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises will be fully covered by the state. The large agricultural producers will benefit from subsidies in the amount of 30% or of 894 lei/tonne, while the SMEs will be fully paid the excise duty, to the value of 2,980 lei/tonne. The excise duty will be paid retroactively, in accordance with the receipts, starting with January 1, 2022, and almost 14,000 enterprises will get subsidies.
